Bulgur stuffed mustard leaves

We have a kind of vegetable which has deep green leaves like swiss chard or collard greens. I have no idea how it is called in English but we call it mustard leaves. We normally stuff it with bulgur or rice and wrap it. I have already a recipe with the same stuffing so you can reach the stuffing ingredients here. You could also add some ground beef or rice but when I prepared, I used bulgur and it was vegeterian, there's no meat!

First I soaked the leaves in boiling water which has 1 lemon juice in for a few minutes or until leaves get nice and soft. Then trim the veins and cut into palm size pieces since it has wide leaves. Put 1 tsp stuffing on each leaf. Wrap by folding the edges of each leaf and roll it. Cook in the same way the recipe says.

Local Cheeses in Turkey

Aged Kashkaval cheese from Kars/East

Braid cheese from Hatay/South

Cecil Chese from Erzurum and Kars/ East


Those are just some of the local cheese variations in Turkey. I wanna share all kinds of cheeses I taste later on.

Feta cheese stuffed roasted red pepper

I noticed that we use considerable amount of red pepper in different ways or in different kinds of recipes in Turkish Cuisine. Sometimes we use them as fresh, sometimes roasted, fried or as pepper paste which is really essential for our cooking. But at the end, the result is always delicious and positive. This appetizer or salad kind dish is one of those luscious and crowd pleasing ones which by the way is also very attractive for your table setting because of the contrast from the bright colors. I used full fat feta cheese to be able to have a smooth, silky and creamy texture. But you could substitute that by adding a little original cream cheese.


Ingredients

• 4 red peppers, roasted
• 4 green onion spring
• 1 cup feta cheese
• 1-2 tbsp walnut, roughly chopped
• handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• olive oil
• lemon juice

directions

1. To prepare feta cheese mixture; in a small mixing bowl, combine parsley, cheese, and walnut. Set aside.
2. Peel the roasted red peppers and clean inside.
3. Cut them from one side and open to make them flat.
4. Fill them up with the feta cheese stuffing and wrap.
5. Tie them with a green onion spring and drizzle some olive oil and lemon juice on top.

Eggplant Kabob

Eggplant Kabob is one of the dishes belongs to Gazi Antep's cuisine. But it is well known at around all South-East. You could either skewer the eggplant slices and meatballs alternately and send that to bakery to get it cook or place them alternately and thightly into prepared baking dish and cook in your own oven at home. In both cases it will be delicious and nutritious as long as you have nice and fresh Japanese eggplants.


Ingredients

2 lbs Japanese eggplants (long and thin one)

for meatball

• 1 lbs ground lamb or beef
• 1 small onion, grated
• 2-3 tbsp bread crumbs
• salt
• black pepper
• paprika
• sweet or hot crushed red pepper flakes

on top

• 2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 2 green peppers, cut into long pieces

Directions

1. In a medium mixture bowl, combine meatball ingredients evenly. Cover and let it set in te fridge for half an hour.
2. Prepare small meatballs and set aside.
3. Peel the eggplants and cut them into 1 inch thick.
4. Place one eggplant slice and one meatball alternately on a lightl greased baking tray until you finish them all. Place tomato slices and green peppers on top and drizzle some oil then bake in 400 F pre-heated oven until well done.